Statutory Duty Information Quarterly Report July to September 2023

Essex Police is committed to diversity, inclusion, and dignity for everyone we serve and employ, treating everyone with fairness, equality, and respect. The communities of Essex are evolving and changing, and we want to grow and evolve with them by listening and responding to actual, rather than assumed, needs. Understanding the needs of the people that live or work in Essex, and the needs of those that visit Essex helps us prevent crime, keep people safe and catch criminals.

This report is part of Essex Police’s response to the Equality Act 2010. It is intended to offer data on the equality impact of Essex Police’s employment practices and activities.

The Equality Act creates a public sector Equality Duty to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act. In other words, to consider how different people will be affected by our activities.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. We want to deliver services which, while efficient and effective, are accessible to all and meet everyone’s needs.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Fulfil our requirements to eliminate unlawful discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people (both employees, volunteers and others) who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. 

The data presented here covers July to September 2023, and in compliance to the specific duty regulations, Essex Police:

• Publish equality objectives every four years.
• Publish information annually to demonstrate compliance with the general Equality Duty.
• Publish information relating to our employees and others affected by our policies and practices (such as provide services to communities).

Essex Police Equality Objectives

The specific duties require public bodies to prepare and publish one or more specific and measurable equality objective which will help to further the three aims of the Equality Duty.

We incorporate equality into our core business, create equal opportunities and develop good working relationships between different people. We are transparent about how we respond to the Equality Duty, as required by the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011.

This report looks at how well our organisation reflects our communities, how we are perceived by the public, and how we respond and deal with crime. The report reflects the five areas within the Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) Strategy.

• Attract, recruit, progress and retain a more diverse workforce that better reflects our communities to improve confidence in Essex Police.
• Narrow the disparity between protected and non-protected groups in respect of the use of police powers such as stops, searches and the use of force. Improve the experience of policing services without reducing the legitimate use of police powers to protect communities.
• Increase satisfaction and confidence amongst protected groups, wider communities, and victims of crime. Tackle hate crime and address any complaints and concerns raised.
• Adopt and advance the NPCC Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Strategy 2018-2025 and accompanying toolkits.
• Improve inclusive culture and increase awareness and understanding of diversity and equality through delivery of mandatory training, equality data analysis, equality and health impact assessment, and effective community engagement.

The below tables detail the performance metrics identified in relation to each of the objectives, along with the direction of travel, i.e., the trend.  Please note that some metrics – such as those in relation to officer numbers (rather than proportions) – are still in the process of being built.

Objective: Attract, recruit, progress and retain a more diverse workforce

Indicators		% Sep 2022	% Sep 2023	% pt. Difference	Direction of Travel
Increase the number of Ethnic Minority officers and staff to be more reflective of the economically active population in Essex
% of Total Work Force	Ethnic Minority	4.2	4.0	-0.1	Deteriorating
	White	93.8	93.9	0.1
	Declined to state	2.0	2.0	0.0
% of Police	Ethnic Minority	4.0	4.0	0.0	Stable
	White	93.7	93.7	0.0
	Declined to state	2.3	2.3	-0.1
% of Staff (exc PCSO)	Ethnic Minority	4.3	4.1	-0.2	Deteriorating
	White	93.8	94.0	0.2
	Declined to state	1.8	1.9	0.1
% of PCSO	Ethnic Minority	1.0	0.0	-1.0	Deteriorating
	White	96.1	98.1	2.0
	Declined to state	2.9	1.9	-1.0
% of Specials	Ethnic Minority	5.3	4.9	-0.3	Deteriorating
	White	94.7	94.7	0.0
	Declined to state	0.0	0.4	0.4
Increase the proportion colleagues in specialist roles and leadership positions
% of Chief Officers	Ethnic Minority	0.0	0.0	0.0	Stable
% of Chief Superintendents	Ethnic Minority	15.4	18.2	2.8	Improving
% of Superintendents	Ethnic Minority	6.9	9.1	2.2	Improving
%of Chief Inspectors	Ethnic Minority	4.3	5.9	1.5	Improving
% of Inspectors	Ethnic Minority	2.7	2.1	-0.6	Deteriorating
% of Sergeants	Ethnic Minority	2.6	2.5	-0.1	Deteriorating
% of Constables	Ethnic Minority	4.3	4.2	-0.1	Deteriorating
% of Student Constables	Ethnic Minority	3.2	5.1	1.8	Improving
% of Chief Officers	Female	20.0	16.7	-3.3	Deteriorating
% of Chief Superintendents	Female	23.1	27.3	4.2	Improving
% of Superintendents	Female	24.1	22.7	-1.4	Deteriorating
%of Chief Inspectors	Female	26.1	21.6	-4.5	Deteriorating
% of Inspectors	Female	30.7	31.9	1.3	Improving
% of Sergeants	Female	27.6	29.6	1.9	Improving
% of Constables	Female	37.4	38.4	1.0	Improving
% of Student Constables	Female	45.8	48.5	2.6	Improving

Objective: Narrow the disparity

Indicators - per 1,000 population (where ethnicity recorded)		Q2 2022/23	Q2 2023/24	Difference	Direction of Travel
Understand, explain and reduce the disparity in use of force and stop and search between White and Ethnic Minority people
Use of Force incidents	Ethnic Minority	5.8	4.9	-0.9	Improving
	White	2.8	2.8
Stop and Searches	Ethnic Minority	3.3	2.6	-0.7	Improving
	White	1.5	1.4

Objective: Increase satisfaction and confidence

Indicators			% 12 months to Sep 2022	% 12 months to Sep 2023	% pt. Difference	Direction of Travel
Increase the confidence of Ethnic Minority people in the service they will receive from Essex Police as measured by the independent force survey
• Taking everything into account, how good a job do you think the police in this area are doing?
% Good/Excellent		Ethnic Minority	77.0	79.2	2.2	Stable
		White	76.4	72.7	-3.7	Deteriorating
• How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?
% Strongly/Tend to Agree		Ethnic Minority	61.8	58.5	-3.3	Stable
		White	53.6	52.1	-1.5	Stable
• If you were to report a crime or incident in the future, how confident are you that you would receive a good service?
% Very/Fairly Confident		Ethnic Minority	73.9	75.8	1.9	Stable
		White	70.4	66.8	-3.6	Deteriorating
Increase the confidence of Ethnic Minority people working to increase the number of those who feel they would be treated fairly if they made a complaint, as   measured by the independent force survey
• If you were to make a complaint to Essex Police about an officer or staff member, do you think you would be treated fairly?
% Strongly/Tend to Agree		Ethnic Minority	63.2	63.8	0.6	Stable
		White	69.7	69.1	-0.6	Stable
• Please say how much you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am confident that the police use their stop and search power fairly and respectfully?
% Strongly/Tend to Agree		Ethnic Minority	60.3	56.9	-3.4	Stable
		White	63.8	60.4	-3.4	Stable

Activity:

‘We Value Difference’ and ‘We Value You’ is a continuous recruitment narrative which runs throughout the course of the year. Please see below the internal and external activity and impact that took place between July and September 2023.

Police Officers

We continued with our approved recruitment marketing channel plan to reach and encourage people from all backgrounds to join as officers. During the three months July 2023 to September 2023 Essex Police received 594 applications to be a Police Constable. Of the 594 applications received 235 were from females (39.56%) and 84 (14.14%) from Ethnic Minority applicants.

Main advertising tactics were as follows:

• A mix of organic, boosted and paid We Value Difference adverts with a unique telephone number to call for enquiries across EP social media channels (10) Essex Police on X: "Discover new opportunities, build your future with us. Call on 01245 452234 to speak to one of the team who are on hand to answer your questions or visit https://t.co/BQRFIMhod8 #FitTheBill https://t.co/LkLSv603b6" / X (twitter.com)
• Promotion of recruitment events in collaboration with HR innovation Team​
• Officer advocate stories, for example, Meet Ch Insp Leigh Norris​ news article.
• News stories on – A level results, Lioness Football, Community Goals, Government Salary announcement
• Collaboration with Crooton – job boards and display advertising
• Radio advert on Greatest Hits Essex
• Recruitment packs distributed to HR Innovation Team for events
• Glassdoor/ Indeed advert and updated profile content
• Advert feature with Essex Live Catch criminals, help people, and keep communities safe by joining Essex Police - Essex Live
• Hospital magazine advert in mid-Essex and Southend editions
• Transferee campaign and recruitment event advertising on LinkedIn and targeted Facebook adverts Essex Police on LinkedIn: #fitthebill
• Targeted Google Ad words – Based on Wilko redundancies ​ All Wilko shops to shut with 12,500 jobs likely to go - BBC News
• We Value Difference ads on Op Haiti & Documentaries (be part of the story)

Increase the number of Ethnic Minority officers and staff to be more reflective of the economically active population in Essex.

The below table illustrates the percentage of ethnic minority personnel within the workforce compared to the same period the previous year. The current economically active population who identify as ethnic minority is 11.2%.

Ethnic Minority employees				Black or Black British
	30/09/2022	30/09/2023	% change	30/09/2023
% of Total Work Force	4.17	4.04	-0.13	0.52
% of Officers	4.03	4.05	0.02	0.39
% of Staff (exc PCSO)	4.34	4.11	-0.23	0.69
% of PCSO	0.97	0.00	-0.97	0.00
% of Specials	5.28	4.95	-0.33	0.92

• There has been a slight decrease (0.13% pt.) in the total workforce Ethnic Minority proportion in September 2023 (263) compared to September 2022 (270); this equates to seven fewer officers/staff.
• As of end of September 2023, there are 317 Police Officer applications currently in the recruitment pipeline with 21 Ethnic Minority applicants (10%) and 82 female applicants (39%). It is worthy of note that for September 2022 to present, the average weekly amount of ethnic minority applicants is 14%.
• The proportion of Ethnic Minority Police Officers (as a percentage of all officers) increased slightly by 0.02% pts in September 2023 (4.05%) compared to September 2022 (4.03%).

Black or Black British employees represent 0.52% of the total work force. There are no Black or Black British PCSOs.

The Positive Action Team (PAT) are responsible for supporting the following objectives of the diversity, equality and inclusion strategy:

• Attract, recruit, progress and retain a more diverse workforce. 
• Improve the inclusive culture and increase awareness and understanding of diversity and equality. 
• Increase public satisfaction and confidence in Essex Police. 

The PAT are currently assisting Crime and Public Protection Command with investigating proportionality on missing persons in Essex. Nationally, Black people are more likely to be reported missing, less likely to be categorised as high-risk, less likely to be found by the police and more likely to be missing for longer periods. This means we need to challenge ourselves, and our statutory partners, to understand why this is and what can be done to reduce this risk.

The PAT have also worked alongside our Business Services and Media and Communications teams to create 15 Recruitment Kit Bags, containing disused uniform / helmets and other kit, as well as 15 ‘We Value Difference’ Selfie Frames to accompany the kit bags, to make district outreach/engagement events as pro-active and interactive as possible.

Increase the proportion of Ethnic Minorities and female colleagues in specialist roles and leadership positions.

Ethnic Minority employees							Black or Black British
	30/09/2022		30/09/2023		Difference		30/09/2023
Rank	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%
% of Chief Officers	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%
% of Chief Superintendents	2	15.38%	2	18.18%	0	2.80%	0	0.00%
% of Superintendents	2	6.90%	2	9.09%	0	2.19%	1	4.55%
% of Chief Inspectors	2	4.35%	3	5.88%	1	1.53%	1	1.96%
% of Inspectors	4	2.67%	3	2.08%	-1	-0.58%	0	0.00%
% of Sergeants	12	2.59%	13	2.48%	1	-0.11%	1	0.19%
% of Constables	117	4.35%	116	4.22%	-1	-0.13%	10	0.36%
% of Student Constables	9	3.25%	15	5.05%	6	1.80%	1	0.34%
Force	148	4.03%	154	4.05%	6	0.02%	14	0.37%

• There are now at least two officers from an Ethnic Minority in every rank in Essex Police other than within the Chief Officer team.

• The percentage of Ethnic Minority Student Constables increased to 5.05% in September 2023 compared to 3.25% in September 2022

• There is one Black or Black British employee in the Superintendent, Chief Inspector and Sergeant rank. There are 10 Black or Black British employees in the Constable rank, and one Student Constable

Female employees							Black or Black British
	30/09/2022		30/09/2023		Difference		30/09/2023
Rank	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%	Headcount	%
% of Chief Officers	1	20.00%	1	16.67%	0	-3.33%	0	0.00%
% of Chief Superintendents	3	23.08%	3	27.27%	0	4.20%	0	0.00%
% of Superintendents	7	24.14%	5	22.73%	-2	-1.41%	1	20.00%
% of Chief Inspectors	12	26.09%	11	21.57%	-1	-4.52%	0	0.00%
% of Inspectors	46	30.67%	46	31.94%	0	1.28%	0	0.00%
% of Sergeants	128	27.65%	155	29.58%	27	1.93%	1	0.65%
% of Constables	1,006	37.38%	1,057	38.41%	51	1.02%	0	0.00%
% of Student Constables	127	45.85%	144	48.48%	17	2.64%	1	0.69%
Force	1,330	36.20%	1,422	37.35%	92	1.15%	3	0.21%

• The number of female employees has remained the same in the Chief Officer and Chief Superintendent ranks but has decreased by two in the Superintendent rank and one in the Chief Inspector rank in September 2023 compared to September 2022. This was due to one Superintendent retiring in this reporting period and another transferring to a different force. In the most recent Superintendent promotion process, there were no successful female applicants. An upcoming Chief Inspector promotion process will be taking place and therefore the representation of females at this rank is likely to improve.
• There were 27 more female Sergeants and 51 more female Constables compared to September 2022.
• There are 92 more female Constables in September 2023 compared to September 2022.The percentage of Female Student Constables increased by 2.64% pts in September 2023 compared to September 2022.There is one Black or Black British female employee in the Superintendent and Sergeant ranks, and one Student Constable.  

To support the aim of increasing the number of ethnic minority officers and females in leadership roles, the PAT have completed extensive outreach activity through national support networks, to attract external candidates from diverse backgrounds for all four promotion processes in this reporting period.

Improve the confidence of officers and staff to self-declare sexual orientation, disability, and religion to better understand and reflect the diversity of the Force.

National Inclusion Week 2023 had the theme of ‘Take Action Make Impact’. Thursday 28th September saw all internal support networks join for our annual in-person Event. Attendees were a mix of Police Staff along with uniformed colleagues including our Deputy Chief Constable Andy Prophet. Our guest speakers were Donna Cox from Care of Police Survivors and Heather Horwood from Police Mutual. We could not think of a better way of becoming inclusive than learning to sign and Susan Butler was demonstrating and even teaching guests how to sign their names. Colleagues filmed a video each finger spelling their name.

Take Action Make Impact is a powerful message which aims to get everyone thinking about what actions you can take and what positive impact these actions could and should have for colleagues.   

The Safe to Say Campaign remains active within Essex Police. The willingness of staff to voluntarily self-declare their visible or non-visible protected characteristics is an important measure of an inclusive healthy organisation. Raising awareness of the support networks and promoting inclusivity generally has resulted in an improved declaration rate. The following table details this across the workforce. It is important for the force to understand the diverse make-up of the organisation and ensure that we better reflect the communities we serve.  

Diversity Category - Gender: Female

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/09/2023	% as at 30/09/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	1422	37.35% ↑	37.09%	35.83%	34.53%	34.08%	31.95%	31.69%
Officer - Male	2385
Staff	1559	67.37% ↓	67.38%	65.63%	65.20%	65.01%	64.35%	63.48%
Staff - Male	755
PCSOs	68	64.15% ↓	65.38%	63.11%	58.18%	55.00%	54.46%	60.17%
PCSO - Male	38
Specials	83	29.33% ↓	31.19%	34.19%	32.45%	32.05%	30.21%	28.49%
Specials - Male	200

Diversity Category - Self Declared Gender: Prefer to Self Describe

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/09/2023	% as at 30/09/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	6	0.16% ↑	0.13%	0.05%	0.09%	-	-	-
Staff	3	0.13% →	0.13%	0.17%	0.09%	-	-	-
PCSOs	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	-	-	-
Specials	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	-	-	-

Diversity Category - Religion: Declared a Religion

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/09/2023	% as at 30/09/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	869	22.83% ↓	22.90%	22.36%	21.52%	19.47%	15.98%	13.55%
Staff	684	29.56% ↑	29.36%	28.86%	27.70%	24.47%	20.82%	18.56%
PCSOs	28	26.42% ↓	26.92%	22.33%	24.55%	23.33%	21.78%	15.68%
Specials	100	35.34% ↑	34.56%	30.97%	28.65%	30.13%	23.89%	12.63%

Diversity Category - Ethnicity: Ethnic Minorities

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/09/2023	% as at 30/09/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	154	4.05% ↓	4.09%	4.17%	3.72%	3.17%	2.17%	2.07%
Staff	95	4.11% ↓	4.16%	4.48%	4.45%	3.74%	3.50%	2.97%
PCSOs	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.97%	0.91%	2.50%	0.99%	2.12%
Specials	14	4.95% ↓	5.20%	6.02%	6.64%	6.91%	4.92%	3.49%

Diversity Category - Sexuality: Bisexual/Gay/Lesbian

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/09/2023	% as at 30/09/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	211	5.54% ↑	5.12%	4.75%	3.98%	3.17%	2.14%	1.54%
Staff	86	3.72% ↓	3.82%	3.42%	2.91%	2.42%	1.52%	1.19%
PCSOs	4	3.77% ↑	2.88%	2.91%	3.64%	3.33%	2.97%	2.97%
Specials	8	2.83% ↓	3.98%	4.52%	3.98%	5.37%	4.45%	2.42%

Diversity Category - Disability: Yes

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/09/2023	% as at 30/09/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	266	6.99% ↑	6.64%	5.49%	4.90%	3.91%	4.08%	3.92%
Staff	222	9.59% ↑	9.27%	8.97%	7.95%	7.17%	6.77%	6.73%
PCSOs	16	15.09% ↑	13.46%	8.74%	8.18%	5.83%	4.95%	5.08%
Specials	3	1.06% ↓	1.22%	0.86%	0.19%	0.58%	0.94%	0.00%

Diversity Category - Nationality: Declared Nationalities Excluding British

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/09/2023	% as at 30/09/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	62	1.63% ↑	1.60%	1.18%	1.03%	0.86%	0.53%	0.44%
Staff	44	1.90% ↑	1.89%	1.71%	1.71%	1.50%	1.29%	1.14%
PCSOs	0	0.00% →	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Specials	6	2.12% ↓	2.75%	3.01%	3.98%	4.80%	2.81%	1.88%

Diversity Category - Marital Status: Married or Civil Partnership

Employee Group	Headcount as at 30/09/2023	% as at 30/09/2023 & Direction of Travel vs 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2023	Position as at 31/03/2022	Position as at 31/03/2021	Position as at 31/03/2020	Position as at 31/03/2018	Position as at 31/03/2016
Officers	1229	32.28% ↑	32.24%	34.02%	36.59%	39.60%	47.47%	55.52%
Staff	883	38.16% ↓	38.28%	39.62%	40.44%	43.18%	44.86%	51.66%
PCSOs	54	50.94% ↑	50.00%	51.46%	53.64%	50.00%	60.40%	54.66%
Specials	33	11.66% ↑	10.70%	8.60%	7.97%	8.83%	13.35%	22.85%

• There was a slight increase in the percentages of officers who stated their sexual orientation – now sitting at 5.54% %, staff has dropped to 3.72%.
• There was a decrease in the percentage of officers who declared a religion – officers 22.83% staff increased to 29.56%.
• There was an increase in the percentages of employees who declared a disability – officers 6.99%%, staff increased to 9.59%, and PCSOs increased to 15.09% and Specials decreased to 1.06%

Understand, explain, and reduce the disparity in use of force and stop and search between White and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people.

Essex Police introduced an Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Cohesion (EDIC) task and finish group to address a range of areas relating to disproportionality, chaired by a Chief Officer. The purpose of the EDIC is to understand, address and where necessary set actions around reducing disproportionality with a focus on stop and search and use of force. The group is made up of senior leaders, operational police colleagues and key representatives from members of the public, local Independent Advisory Groups (IAGs) and young people. The group use data produced for the forces ‘Use of Force Board’ and review and monitor activity again this.

To ensure legitimacy and transparency around the use of police powers, a Body Worn Video (BWV) Review Panel has convened to review clips of officers using stop and search powers in Essex. The panel consists of a diverse membership with representation from the Black, Jewish, and Transgender communities. Attendance is monitored to ensure the membership is fully representative of the community. The panel operates a feedback process to individual officers, not only to ensure officers are learning from each search conducted but also to highlight best practise and recognising officers who use their powers fairly, effectively, and respectfully to leave a positive impression on those subject to the search.

The panel have adopted a Procedural Justice Framework survey to provide feedback for the BWV clips viewed. The outcomes of each panel are reported to the Use of Force Board, EDIC Stop and Search Board and the Learning the Lessons Board to ensure learning is shared.

Use of Force[1]

Use of Force per 1000 population							Ratio to White
	White	Mixed	Asian or Asian British	Black or Black British	Other Ethnic Group	Ethnic Minorities	Mixed	Asian or Asian British	Black or Black British	Other Ethnic Group	Ethnic Minorities
Force	2.78	2.46	2.45	7.79	6.85	4.48	0.88	0.88	2.80	2.46	1.61

The above table shows a breakdown of Use of Force incidents per 1,000 population and the ratio of various ethnicities to White people across the Force for reporting period 1st July 30th September 2023. Ethnic Minority individuals are 1.9 times more likely to have force used upon them than White individuals. This is an increase from that reported in the previous reporting period, when Ethnic Minorities were 1.6 times more likely to have force used upon them than White individuals.

Essex has the sixth highest Ethnic Minority to White ratio for Use of Force, and the lowest Black to White ratio[5]. 

Stop and Search per 1000 population							Ratio to White
	White	Mixed	Asian or Asian British	Black or Black British	Other Ethnic Group	Ethnic Minorities	Mixed	Asian or Asian British	Black or Black British	Other Ethnic Group	Ethnic Minorities
Force	1.40	2.10	1.43	4.37	2.75	2.60	1.50	1.02	3.12	1.96	1.86

The above table shows a breakdown of stop and searches per 1,000 population and the ratio of various ethnicities to White across the Force in this reporting period.

• Ethnic Minority individuals are 1.9 times more likely to be stop and searched than white individuals. This is a slight increase from that reported in the previous reporting period, when Ethnic Minorities were 1.8 times more likely to be stop and searched than White individuals.
• The stop and search Force tactical lead ensures the grounds of 10% of all stops each month are reviewed in relation to the proportionality, necessity, and justification. Since April, 97% have been found to be of a satisfactory standard. Feedback is provided to the officers who are completing stop and search records at an unacceptable standard, with necessary referrals to the Professional Standards and/or Learning and Development departments as required.
• All LPAs and OPC have well embedded Body Worn Video (BWV) review processes, including scrutiny panels which are supported by IAG members to monitor officers use of stop and search and use of force powers.
• Our award-winning Equality Diversity Inclusion and Cohesion (EDIC) Partnership scrutinises data to ascertain and address any racial disparity. This partnership with residents and other statutory and community organisations will continue to develop and grow in the months and years ahead.

Essex ranks 6 out of 7 in our Most Similar Group (MSG) in the Ethnic Minority to White ratio and 6th in the Black to White ratio. It should be noted that Police.uk have not yet moved to the 2021 Census data and are still using 2011 data.

Activity

North Local Policing Area (NLPA)

An Equality Focus Panel meets quarterly to review the use of police powers across the North LPA. At the August meeting, two use of force and two stop search incidents were reviewed. Learning and good practice is identified and relayed back to the officers involved in the incident. These examples are picked at random and will include individuals from ethnic minority communities as well as other protected characteristics. This provides the opportunity for conversation around disparity in these areas.  The North LPA Command Team is looking to include Independent Advisory Group (IAG) Chairs in their victim focus panels and domestic abuse scrutiny panels moving forward. The North LPA is represented at the force wide Use of Force Board where stop search and use of force is also discussed and reviewed.

During Fresher’s Week In Colchester, the local Community Policing Team (CPT) have undertaken Operation Jaguar. This is an operation in partnership with the University whereby joint patrols are undertaken to identify areas of vulnerability to best inform how we can prevent and deter violence against women and girls (VAWG) offences.

South Local Policing Area (SLPA)

The Essex Police Help Forum support network gave a presentation to the South Command Management Team and South Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Board.  A local working group has been created to establish the right level of engagement and support for those on parental leave. Officers on parental leave are included in Command Team Absent Management Meetings to ensure supervisors have the right level of support in place for their staff. Further bespoke work is taking place for detectives around support for parents/those returning from work including myth busting and mentoring. 

SLPA Investigations workforce representation is currently 49% for female officers. Investigations teams encourage diversity and discuss reasonable adjustments if necessary. A survey has been conducted across the LPA exploring barriers to the investigative pathway and now myth busting sessions/Yammer events are being planned.

Stop search is a standing agenda item at the LPA’s Independent Advisory Group meetings. Recent meetings have included a discussion around the procedure of apologising/thanking people for their time after a negative stop search. Recently, a male who was stop searched and red dotted (term used when a taser trained officer challenges an individual to stop their behaviour and aims their taser at the individual – this produces a red dot on the individual which indicates where the taser barbs will strike the person if the officer discharges the taser device) attended a meeting to talk about his experience and the learning opportunities available.

West Local Policing Area (WLPA)

The WLPA Children and Young Person Officers (CYPs) continue to engage with young people including a new community after school club and holiday clubs in Brentwood and Epping Forest District. The Youth Café project in Harlow is also ongoing with a focus on diverse groups. The CYPs are also working to divert young people into local employment/apprenticeship options, for example a mechanic project in Thurrock.

The CYPs are engaging with local schools around violent crime, hate crime, drugs, social media use and BB guns/firearms to raise awareness and understanding of the dangers of these offences with young people.

[1] The Use of Force data analysed in this report includes instances where multiple forms have been submitted in relation to the use of force against one subject.  This is because one use of force form should be submitted by every officer who used force. Therefore, if three officers use force against one subject in relation to the same incident, three forms should be submitted, and the subject would appear three times in the data for that same incident.

Extensive activity takes place across all commands to ensure confidence and satisfaction levels improve across many areas. To improve in this area, policing must be seen to act legitimately, ethically and are transparent in our activity and scrutiny.

Increase the confidence of Ethnic Minority people in the service they will receive from Essex Police as measured by the independent force survey

There is no significant statistical difference in White and Ethnic Minority respondents’ views for many questions. Where significant differences do exist, these tend to relate to perceptions of fairness for example in the use if stop search powers and treatment of complaints.

[2] Data supplied by SMSR: Social & Market Strategic Research. Data to June 2022.

Respondents were asked the following questions:

• “Taking everything into account, how good a job do you think the police in this area are doing?” (Q13b)

Q13b	White % Good/Excellent (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Good/Excellent (NET)
12m to Dec 2021	80.4%	76.3%
12m to Mar 2022	79.4%	76.1%
12m to Jun 2022	78.4%	74.0%
12m to Sep 2022	76.4%	77.0%
12m to Dec 2022	74.7%	78.6%
12m to Mar 2023	72.9%	79.1%
12m to Jun 2023	71.4%	79.5%
12m to Sep 2023	72.7%	79.2%

• “How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?” (Q4)

Q4	White % Strongly/Tend To Agree (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Strongly/Tend To Agree (NET)
12m to Dec 2021	60.5%	56.8%
12m to Mar 2022	57.3%	59.4%
12m to Jun 2022	54.5%	61.1%
12m to Sep 2022	53.6%	61.8%
12m to Dec 2022	52.2%	62.0%
12m to Mar 2023	51.1%	59.3%
12m to Jun 2023	50.6%	58.9%
12m to Sep 2023	52.1%	58.5%

• “If you were to report a crime or incident in the future, how confident are you that you would receive a good service from Essex Police?” (Q10)

Q10	White % Very/Fairly Confident (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Very/Fairly Confident (NET)
12m to Dec 2021	76.3%	73.3%
12m to Mar 2022	75.1%	72.7%
12m to Jun 2022	73.4%	70.7%
12m to Sep 2022	70.4%	73.9%
12m to Dec 2022	68.9%	74.1%
12m to Mar 2023	66.6%	73.9%
12m to Jun 2023	65.2%	75.5%
12m to Sep 2023	66.8%	75.8%

• White respondents answered less positively to Q13b and Q10 in the 12 months to September 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. Ethnic Minority respondents’ confidence level remained stable over both periods.

• All respondents remained stable for Q4 over the same period.

• Ethnic Minority respondents’ confidence is higher than White respondents’ for all three questions in the 12 months to September 2023. The disparity increased for Q13b and Q10 when compared to September 2022 (5% points for both questions). The disparity decreased slightly for Q4 over the same period (1% point).

   

• Q13b: “Taking everything into account, how good a job do you think the police in this area are doing?”. There was a significant decrease of 3% pts. for White respondents for the 12 months to September 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. Ethnic Minority respondents remained stable but there was a 2% pts. increase.

   

• The disparity increased by 6% pts in September 2023 compared to September 2022. The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 6% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to September 2023, compared to 1% pt. higher for the same period in the previous year.

   

• Q4: “How much would you agree or disagree that Essex Police understand the issues that affect your community?”. Confidence remained stable for all respondents in the 12 months to September this year compared to the same period last year but decreased by a few %pts. for both Ethnic Minority respondents (-3% pts.) and White respondents (-2% pts.).

   

• The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 7% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to September 2023, compared to 8% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to September 2022

   

• Q10: “If you were to report a crime or incident in the future, how confident are you that you would receive a good service from Essex Police?”. Ethnic Minority respondents remained stable and showed a higher level of confidence (76%) compared to White respondents (67%) in the 12 months to September 2023. White respondents showed a significant decrease of 3% pts. compared to the same period the previous year.

   

• The disparity increased by 5% pts in September 2023 compared to September 2022. The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 9% pts. higher compared to White respondents in the 12 months to September 2023, compared to 4% pts. higher for the same period in the previous year.

Increase the confidence of Ethnic Minorities, working to increase the number of those who feel they would be treated fairly if they made a complaint, as measured by the independent force survey

Respondents were asked the following questions:

• “If you were to make a complaint to Essex Police about an officer or staff member, do you think you would be treated fairly? (Q7)

Q7	White % Yes	Ethnic Minority % Yes
12m to Dec 2021	77.2%	58.7%
12m to Mar 2022	75.4%	60.3%
12m to Jun 2022	72.5%	60.5%
12m to Sep 2022	69.7%	63.2%
12m to Dec 2022	67.6%	63.9%
12m to Mar 2023	67.7%	63.3%
12m to Jun 2023	66.7%	63.2%
12m to Sep 2023	69.1%	63.8%

• “Please say how much you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am confident that the police use their stop and search power fairly and respectfully” (Q15)

Q15	White % Strongly/Tend To Agree (NET)	Ethnic Minority % Strongly/Tend To Agree (NET)
12m to Dec 2021	76.3%	57.7%
12m to Mar 2022	70.8%	61.9%
12m to Jun 2022	67.9%	60.0%
12m to Sep 2022	63.8%	60.3%
12m to Dec 2022	60.8%	59.7%
12m to Mar 2023	59.9%	58.6%
12m to Jun 2023	58.6%	57.6%
12m to Sep 2023	60.4%	56.9%

• All respondents remained stable in September 2023 compared to the same period last year for both questions.

   

• If you were to make a complaint to Essex Police about an officer or staff member, do you think you would be treated fairly?”. All respondents’ confidence remained stable in the 12 months to September 2023 compared to September 2022 with an increase of 1% pt. for Ethnic Minorities compared to a decrease of 1% pt. for White respondents.

   

• The disparity decreased from 7% pts. to 5% pts. compared to the same period in the previous year. Ethnic minority confidence was lower for both periods (12m to September 2023 64% vs 69%, 12m to September 2022 63% vs 70%).

   

• Q15: “Please say how much you agree or disagree with the following statement: I am confident that the police use their stop and search power fairly and respectfully”. Confidence remained stable for all respondents in the 12 months to September 2023 compared to the same period in the previous year. Ethnic Minority confidence showed a decrease of 3% pts (57% vs 60%), White confidence showed a decrease of 4% pts (60% vs 64%).

   

• The level of confidence for Ethnic Minority respondents was 3% pts. lower compared to White respondents in the 12 months to September 2023, compared to 4% pts. lower for the same period in the previous year.

Example of activity to increase confidence and satisfaction:

Crime and Public Protection

Community Engagement Group (CEG) meets quarterly and discusses various topics from LGBTQ+ matters to domestic abuse and stalking. The online event delivers information around policing matters and criminal justice processes. This meeting has representatives from several partners, community groups and charities. 

Implement and conduct a quarterly review of ongoing action aligned with the NPCC toolkit

The NPCC/APCC Policing vision 2025 states that (by 2025) policing will be a profession with a more representative workforce that will align the right skills, powers, and experiences to meet challenging requirements. The delivery plan produced was a template for Chief Constables to provide leadership and cultural change to deliver NPCC/APCC Vision 2025.  The delivery plan sets out the key components to successfully achieving the vision by focussing on:

• Leadership and culture
• Attraction/recruitment
• Retention
• Progression
• Wellbeing and fulfilment
• Exit from service with dignity

There are 4 toolkits in total, broken down into 9 areas on the online action tracker:

1. Our Leadership and Culture (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)

2. Attraction and Recruitment (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)                                    

3. Retention (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)                 

4. Progression (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)  

5. Wellbeing and Fulfilment (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)

6. Exit from service with dignity (NPCC Workforce Representation - Attraction, Recruitment, Progression and Retention Toolkit)

7. NPCC Our Communities Toolkit

8. NPCC Our Organisation Toolkit

9. NPCC Our Partners Toolkit

Toolkit area	Actions started June 2023	Completed Actions to date	Actions not started	Total of Actions per toolkit area
1	0	17	0	17
2	5	26	0	31
3	1	8	0	9
4	2	6	0	8
5	0	5	0	5
6	3	4	0	7
7	0	9	0	9
8	0	11	0	11
9	1	7	0	8
Total	12	93	0	105

The Diversity and Inclusion Team are responsible for enabling and supporting progress against each action. Essex Police have chosen to adopt this national toolkit and included the delivery of it within the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.

It should be noted that the current Toolkit is now considered closed. All actions were started and implemented and are considered business as usual across Essex police.

Diversity, equality, and inclusion training to be delivered to every officer, staff member and volunteer over the first two years of this strategy with an annual refresher thereafter

Diversity, equality, and inclusion training has been delivered to the majority of the workforce over the last two years.

Essex Police has worked collaboratively with an external provider (Pearlcatchers) to develop our diversity, equality and inclusion training package across the force.

The training, called ‘Leading Difference and Inclusion’ for leaders, and ‘Valuing Difference and Inclusion’ for the general workforce, was launched on 14 July 2021 and is being delivered across three phases:

• Phase 1 has concluded and has provided training for around 1,400 leaders (PS and SO1 and above).  This has been delivered in 2 modules with a commitment to embedding change through an action plan captured via a PDR objective.
• Phase 2 provided training for around 5,200 of the general workforce between January - November 2022.  This was delivered in 1 module. At the end of this reporting period, 3069 officers/staff and volunteers have already attended the training with a further 1038 booked on future sessions.
• Phase 3 will see ten supporting monthly videos and podcasts launched monthly from early 2023 followed by an annual refresher package for use from December 2023.

Over the next 10 months our Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Team will be sharing a series of videos and podcasts that spotlights each of the protected characteristics from the Equality Act 2010 in addition to other areas not covered by the Act but that makes us uniquely different, embraces the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and our determination to promote dignity for all. 

These videos will feature our own people who talk about their lived experience giving invaluable insight into the challenges that face and the importance of having honest discussions about diversity, equality and inclusion.

These videos are mandatory for all to watch and will be facilitated by Line Managers. Compliance rates are being shared with Heads of Department to ensure that officers and staff are learning through the Develop Me Learning Hub process.

Survey results indicate a strong increase in knowledge and understanding across the Leaders cohort and a positive response from the general workforce following phases 1 and 2.

Pride

The Colchester Community Policing Team have a great relationship with the local Pride committee and were involved with the development of the Colchester Pride event, which took place on 12th August 2023. The LGBTQ+ Network attended to help with hate crime incidents, offer advice and show visibility to residents. Local charities, such as Outhouse East, were also present to demonstrate our collaborative approach to supporting those from under-represented groups.

Southend Pride took place on 15th July 2023 and saw the Essex Police LGBTQ+ Staff Support Network in attendance, along with members of the public. Southend is also the birthplace of ‘UK Black Pride’.

Police Race Action Plan training products

The College of Policing (CoP) have developed an hour-long learning package for officers and staff on the Police Race Action Plan (PRAP), which includes material to aid their understanding of the history of policing Black communities, and to develop the knowledge and skills necessary to build trust and confidence with those communities. Learning & Development are in the process of reviewing this package with a view to embedding it within the current curriculum for all officers and staff.  

Develop a diversity dashboard to monitor our progress against our objectives.

The Performance Analysis Unit have developed a Diversity Dashboard which includes Victims, Suspects, Arrests, Outcomes, DA, Hate Crime, Honour Based Crime, Racial Crime, Sexual Offences and Community Resolutions. Separate dashboards for Stop Search and Use of Force have also been developed and this product is now delivered monthly and available for all staff to access.

LGBT Representation

There was an increase in the percentages of officers and staff who stated their sexual orientation - officers 5.54% (completion rate 71.04%%), staff dropped to 3.72% (completion rate 72.16%). The completion rate includes ‘prefer not to say.’

Diversity Equality Inclusion Briefing Sessions.

The Diversity and Inclusion Team delivered DEI briefing sessions to new recruits, newly promoted Sergeants and Inspectors. These interactive sessions are designed to promote the D&I Strategy, prompt discussion around the nine protected characteristics and promote inclusion within the workplace. These on-going sessions give us the best opportunity to raise awareness and understanding of diversity and equality issues amongst our staff and develop and retain the diverse talent within the organisation.

Performance Information and Data

How Essex Police perform is reported to the Office for Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (OPFCC) on a monthly and quarterly basis. This data includes information on Hate Crime offences at a force and district level. This data can be found on the following link:

Essex Police Performance - Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner (pfcc.police.uk)

The Police and Crime Commissioner also publishes quarterly reports on Essex Police conduct matters. This data includes a breakdown of complaints by ethnicity group. This data can be found on the following link:

Conduct & Professional Standards - Essex Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner (pfcc.police.uk)

Pay Equality

Each year Essex Police publish, separately to this report, an Equality Pay Gap report. The 2021 report was published in Spring 2022 on the Essex Police website:

Gender pay gap | Essex Police

Essex Police: Workforce Distribution

Each year Essex Police publish via the OPFCC website, a report which relates to the force’s attendance, strength full time equivalent (fte), turnover and diversity profiles. The link to this report is provided below:

https://www.essex.pfcc.police.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/7.0-HR-Commentary-2021-Mar-21-v0.7-Final-approved-15.04.21-update.pdf